Ratchet wrench



Nov. 22, 1966 J. R. MURRAY 3,286,560

RATGHET WRENCH Filed Aug. 25, 1965 INVENTOR.

John R. Murray United States Patent 3,286,560 RATCHET WRENCH John R. Murray, 2615 Lincoln Ave., Belmont, Calif. Filed Aug. 25, 1965, Ser. No. 482,375 4 Claims. (Cl. 81-581) The invention relates to a portable ratchet wrench, and more particularly to a socket ratchet wrench adaptable by means of various sockets and attachments for a range of fastener sizes.

The invention is, in its most adaptable form, one of that class of hand tools known as a part of or adjunct of a socket set wherein a plurality of female sockets are attached and detached as required from a relatively few handwork pieces to accommodate a considerable range of nut and bolt fasteners, as well as to perform operations upon hex-head sockets, cross-milled sockets, and the like.

The wrench, the subject of the present invention, is also designed to function in one of its forms as a ratchet boxwrench either provided with a specific-sized socket for a single size of nut or bolt, or desirably accommodating a range of bolt fastener sizes through the use of relatively thin walled, internally disposed female sockets which provide in one hand tool the equivalent of an entire portfolio of individual box ratchet wrenches.

Within the class of tools referred to, whether a socketratchet per se or a box-ratchet wrench, certain problems in the use of presently available tools have been until now unresolved: particularly the need to rotate the entire handle or body of the ratchet wrench about a considerable arc in order to tighten or loosen the nut or bolt being engaged. This requirement of movement of the wrench tool through an arc in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of the fastener requires a suflicient clearance to perform the operation, which clearance is increasingly absent in modern machinery, and is especially noticeable in the automotive field.

There are innumerable instances of tightening or loosening operations which could be carried on feasibly and expeditiously were it not necessary that the tool holder whether socket-ratchet or box-ratchet wrench be swung in a free are about the fastener.

In addition, there is a special class of operations which imposes a unique difiiculty, those where access to the fastener can largely be obtained through a restricted space parallel to the head of the fastener; such a limited access makes impossible the normal holding of a socket ratchet or box-ratchet wrench and requires that the user hold the wrench parallel to the plane of the hand in an insecure and inefiicient manner.

The present invention obviates the preceding difficulties by providing a wrench which can most conveniently be operated in highly restricted quarters by minimizing and in some installations eliminating the need for rotating the wrench through an arc in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the fastener. In addition, the present invention permits tightening and untightening operations to be performed not only with one hand of the user, but also while the users hand is disposed in the plane of the wrench, and not requiring an offset or angular relationship of the wrist and arm to the Wrench as, with heretofore existing tools, is required.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a hand wrench adaptable to a variety of fasteners and sizes and attachments therefore which will afford tightening and untightening operations without requiring that the wrench be rotated or reciprocated through a considerable arc of movement.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wrench of the character described which can conveniently be operated by one hand of the user and which can be operated when disposed in the plane of the arm of the user, if desired, through a squeezing action of the hand. An additional object of the present invention is to provide a wrench of the character described involving a minimum size, especially transversely of the wrench body, and which may be operated in restricted spaces or accesses available only in a narrow plane substantially parallel to the head of the fastener.

An additional object resides in providing a new and improved ratchet wrench or box-ratchet wrench with the minimum number of parts effectively protected against injury or contamination.

Again an object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved ratchet wrench which will accept a variety of attachments for various sizes of bolts, nuts and other fastening means whether such appropriate attachments are disposed transversely offset from the body of the wrench or disposed within the relatively narrow thickness of the wrench.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which of the foregoing will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of this specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawing (one sheet):

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the invention as shown in FIGURE 1 but with a portion thereof removed, and partly broken away in section.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1, with a portion broken away in section.

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of a portion of the invention shown in section in FIGURE 3, but showing a modified form.

My wrench comprises a body 11 having a hand gripor fixed handle 12, and as shown, particularly in FIG- URE 2, handle 12 may be conveniently formed as an integral part of the frame of the wrench comprising the handle 12, a top wall 13, a bottom wall 14, and an arcuate end wall 16.

Disposed within a chamber 17, thus formed in the body of the wrench by the enclosing walls, is a wrench member 18. Member 18 is provided with annular reliefs adjacent the exterior ends and is both journalled for rotation in such reliefs and retained within chamber 17 of the wrench by means of side plates 19 and 21, respectively, comprising the rear and front walls of the wrench body.

As shown, plates 19 and 21 are removably secured to the frame of the wrench by means of a plurality of screws 23 threadably engaged in end wall 16 and the bottom wall 14 of the wrench body.

Member 18 is preferably formed with an interior socket for detachable engagement with a variety of fasteners, and in the conventional form of socket set tools, socket 18 could terminate in an exteriorly projecting male plug of a character suitable for use with the particular attachments selected, i.e. either a square male plug of a certain size in accordance with the range of fasteners with which the tool is designed to be used as determined by the force or torque designed to be applied. Such a male plug or socket end might also take the form of a hexagonal plug in another variety of attachments, but as shown, socket 18 is provided with a female hexagonalopening 24 which opening not only serves as an integral box wrench for direct application to hexagonal nuts or bolt heads of the corresponding size but conveniently receives a detachable male socket plug 26.

Socket plug 26 comprises a hexagonal section 27 fitting within the registering female socket 24, and a square male plug tip 28 of a conventional size to serve as the mounting means for a variety of female socketsnot showneach of which is specific to a certain size or type of fastener. Socket plug 26 is provided with a transversely extended collar 29 midway of the hex tip 27 and the square tip 28, and serves as a stop collar limiting insertion of the plug tip 26 in socket 18 through the abutting of collar 29 with side plate 21.

The plug tip may be fitted with spring loaded ball bearing snaps 31 in both portions 27 and 28 for a more secure retention of the hex 27 within socket 24 and of attachments with the squared plug respectively, and the side wall 32 defining the hexagonal opening 24 in socket 18 may be provided with annular reliefs 33 in registration with the ball snap 31 in the hex end 27 providing a detent through the intrusion of the ball snaps into the reliefs.

The circular central portion 22 of socket 18 disposed within the wrench chamber is provided with a plurality of ratchet teeth 34 at the periphery thereof and is best shown in FIGURE 2, and such ratchet teeth functioning in conjunction with a conventional overriding spring loaded pawl transforms the wrench structure thus far disclosed into the conventional form and function of a ratchet socket wrench functioning either as a box ratchet where the hexagonal opening 24 is disposed directly upon the head of a registering bolt or nut, or as a socket ratchet when the plug 26 is utilized carrying a suitable female socket. In either application the wrench would be operated to tighten or loosen fasteners through rotation of handle 12 in either a complete revolution about the fastener or, in those limited access applications which make a ratchet wrench mandatory, through oscillation of handle 12 in a limited are by applying torque to the fastener on one stroke, and regaining initial position of the wrench through free ratcheting of the socket on the reverse or recovery stroke.

As will be evident to users of the conventional ratchet wrench tools thus far disclosed, many work situations make even limited oscillation of the entire wrench diflicult, or the user is unable because of limited access to comfortably position his hand, wrist and arm at the proper angularity relative to the wrench handle to produce control, repetitive power strokes and reverse recovery strokes.

In order to overcome these limitations my invention provides a ratchet wrench which may be operated by one hand of the user when the hand has limited access to the tool as necessarily in holding it in a squeeze grip. It will also be clear that the necessity of repeatedly oscillating the entire wrench will prove exhausting to the user particularly where the shank of the fastener is extended and protracted rotation of the fastener is required in either a tightening or removal operation.

A repetitive squeezing action can be accomplished much more rapidly and efficiently, and this my invention makes possible. To accomplish these results, I provide a movable handle or grip 36 mounted for reciprocation towards and away from the fixed handle 12 by means of shaft 37 journaled in side plates 19 and 21 respectively. Movable grip 36 operates through a limited arc of oscillation afforded by a relieved portion 38 provided in top wall 13 of the wrench frame, and the grip terminates within chamber 17 in an arcuate end face or rack 39 having a plurality of spur gear teeth 41.

As an important feature of my invention, and as the means of translating reciprocatory motion of grip 36 into rotation of socket 18, I provide a movable arcuate rack or segmental gear 42 having a plurality of teeth 43 registering with arcuate rack teeth 41 on the grip whereby upon depression of gripping handle 36 towards the fixed handle 12 from the at rest position, as shown in FIGURE 2, for example, the rotation of the arcuate end 39 of handle 36 about shaft 37 will effect a corresponding movement in movable rack 42 through the interfitted rack teeth 41 and 43 respectively, inducing in movable rack 42 a corresponding elevation within chamber 17. It will be apparent that the movable rack or gear 42 must be guided in its movement, and as shown, such guide comprises a pair of arcuate tracks 44 provided on the rear and front walls 19 and 21 respectively of the wrench cooperating with registering arcuate reliefs in the body of the movable rack or gear 42. A pawl 46 is journaled in a suitable slot in gear 42 by means of shaft 47, and spring loaded by compression spring 48 into engagement with the ratchet teeth 34 provided on the periphery of socket 18.

Guide tracks 44 are concentric with the axis of socket 18, and it thus can be seen that squeezing grip handle 36 towards handle 12 will cause movable rack 42 to describe an arc of movement concentric with ratchet 18, and induce corresponding rotation of the socket in a counterclockwise direction as shown through the engagement of pawl 46 with ratchet teeth 34. The reverse or recovery stroke of hand grip 36 will cause a clockwise movement of rack 42 downwardly, but without inducing a corresponding movement of socket 18 since in a clockwise direction of movement the pawl 46 will freely ride over the ratchet teeth 34.

As a means of insuring positive recovery of the wrench to an at rest position, movable handle or hand grip 36 is biased to an at rest position by a compression spring 49 disposed between the top wall 13 of the wrench body and a cavity 51 for housing the spring provided in grip 36 adjacent arcuate tip 39. A guide screw 52 is threadably engaged through top wall 13 to position spring 49 during reciprocation of the handle.

As an important feature of the present invention, and as shown in FIGURE 4, socket 18 may desirably in many applications be provided with an internal hexagonal bore 56 of a size to accept the largest hex head nut or bolt which the wrench is to accommodate, and into the internal bore 56 of the socket may be fitted a plurality of corresponding internal sockets 57. Sockets 57 are provided with an external configuration slidably engageable in the internal bore 56, and having progressively thickened side walls to define a series of internal hex sockets for use with an entire range of fastener sizes. As shown, the sockets 57 may be fitted with a transversely extending hexagonal collar 58 which when the socket is fully engaged will bottom upon the front plate 21 of the wrench, thus positioning the socket 57 within the wrench body.

The advantage of this form of my invention resides in the incorporation of a range of female sockets disposed substantially entirely within the relatively narrow transverse extent of the wrench permitting use in many restricted operations where the use of conventional sockets mounted upon a male plug would be impossible due to the protrusion of the socket at right angles to the wrench body. In this modified form I have shown the wrench functions as a box ratchet wrench without limiting its usefulness with conventional socket sets, for it will be obvious that the suitable male plug may be provided for mounting in bore 56 and projecting outwardly therefrom to define a plug carrying the conventional socket attachments.

The versatility of my wrench spans the entire range of use of both box socket ratchet wrenches and socket ratchet wrenches and permits one hand operation, rapidly and efficiently in either of these applications. When the torque requirements may exceed the gripping strength of the user, the movable hand grip 36 is simply allowed to move to its biased position and the necessary torque then applied through fixed handle 12, wherein the turning movement is imparted to socket 18 through pawl 46 and movable rack 42 in its at rest position abutting the lower wall 14 of the wrench body. Thus in the at rest position when maximum torque is being applied the respective parts of my invention co-function as though they were immovable portions of the wrench, and I have provided abutting stops 59 and 60 in the bottom wall 16 and movable gear or rack 42 respectively, to transmit the full torque being applied and relieving movable grip 36 and its attendant structure of any load-carrying function during such maximum torque application.

I claim:

1. A ratchet wrench comprising, a support, a wrench member mounted for rotation on said support, a hand grip mounted on said support for manual reciprocation, a ratchet gear mounted on said wrench member for rotation concentrically therewith, a pawl holder mounted on said support for movement concentric to said gear, means connecting said grip and holder for rotary dispiacement of said holder upon reciprocation of said grip, and a pawl carried by said holder and engageable with said gear to effect unidirectional rotation of said gear and wrench member upon reciprocation of said grip.

2. A ratchet wrench comprising, a support, a wrench member mounted for rotation on said support, a hand grip mounted on said support for manual reciprocation, a ratchet gear mounted on said wrench member for r0 tation concentrically therewith, a rack mounted on said support for movement concentric to said gear, rack engaging teeth provided on said grip enmeshed with said rack for rotary displacement of said rack upon reciprocation of said grip, and a pawl carried by said rack and engageable with said gear to effect unidirectional rotation of said gear and wrench member upon reciprocation of said grip.

3. A ratchet wrench comprising, an elongated support, a wrench member mounted for rotation on said support adjacent one end thereof, a hand grip pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said support for manual reciprocation of an outer end of said grip to and from an end of said support opposite to said wrench member, a ratchet gear mounted on said wrench member for rotation concentrically therewith, a rack, a track provided by said support for mounting on said rack for movement concentric to said gear, a segmental pinion provided on the inner end of said grip enmeshed with said rack for rotary displacement of said rack upon reciprocation of said grip, and a pawl carried by said rack and engageable with said gear to effect unidirectional rotation of said gear and wrench member upon reciprication of said grip.

4. A ratchet wrench comprising, an elongated housing providing a handle adjacent one end and a chamber adjacent its other end, a wrench member mounted for rotation in said chamber about an axis perpendicular to said handle, a hand grip pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said housing with an inner end disposed in said chamber and for manual reciprocation of an outer end to and from said handle, a ratchet gear mounted on said wrench member for rotation concentrically therewith, a rack, a track provided in said chamber for mounting on said rack for movement concentric to said gear, a segmental pinion provided on the inner end of said grip enmeshed with said rack for rotary displacement of said rack upon reciprocation of said grip, and a pawl carried by said rack and engageable with said gear to elfect unidirectional rotation of said gear and wrench member upon reciprocation of said grip.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,543,338 6/1925 Neal et a1. 8158.1

2,633,044 3/1953 Pasquariello 8160 X 2,817,257 12/1957 Kniser 8158.1

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

I. L. JONES, JR., Assistant Examiner. 

1. A RATCHET WRENCH COMPRISING, A SUPPORT, A WRENCH MEMBER MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ON SAID SUPPORT, A HAND GRIP MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT FOR MANUAL RECIPROCATION, A RATCHET GEAR MOUNTED ON SAID WRENCH MEMBER FOR ROTATION CONCENTRICALLY THEREWITH, A PAWL HOLDER MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT FOR MOVEMENT CONCENTRIC TO SAID GEAR, MEANS CONNECTING SAID GRIP AND HOLDER FOR ROTARY DISPLACEMENT OF SAID HOLDER UPON RECIPROCATION OF SAID GRIP, AND A PAWL CARRIED BY SAID HOLDER AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID GEAR TO EFFECT UNIDIRECTIONAL ROTATION OF SAID GEAR AND WRENCH MEMBER UPON RECIPROCATION OF SAID GRIP. 